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Mayor Ezard discusses the departure of both Ward 3 aldermen

By Blake Schnitker on August 15 at 12:22pm

Jacksonville Mayor Andy Ezard says the search is underway for new aldermen in anticipation of two current city council members resigning.

It was briefly mentioned during Monday night’s city council meeting that two of the current aldermen would not be present for an upcoming vote regarding a liquor ordinance. Those aldermen, Marcy Patterson and Travis Richardson, both represent Jacksonville’s third ward, and will soon be stepping down from their roles.Jacksonville Mayor Andy Ezard says the reasoning behind Patterson and Richardson’s resignations are simply due to the fact that both of them are relocating to residences outside of Ward 3.

Mayor Ezard talks about the working relationship he’s built with Patterson in her time as aldermen.

“Marcy, from a personal standpoint, she’s a friend and has worked hard. She really keeps you in check as far as what goes on and she’s very astute as far as reaching out to her constituency and being in the know to what they want done in city government. Even though she’s not an aldermen, I know Marcy will still continue to be very vibrant in the community as she has been for many years,” says Ezard.

The Mayor also discusses Richardson’s impact on the city council since being elected, and explains where things currently stand in terms of finding replacements.

“Travis, he comes from an economic development backgrounds, and he was very helpful not only in the meetings but somewhat behind the scenes and was very good about bringing things up that needed to be addressed, so he will be missed as well. Now it’s my job to get quality folks that want to be aldermen of the third ward, and I’ve already started that process and have had conversations with individuals that I feel would be good candidates. There have been individuals that have approached me that are interested, and that’s always good. We’re going to speak with those individuals, and I already have been, and kind of vet who I think would fit well and we’ll go from there.

The decision on who to appoint as a replacement on the city council is the responsibility of the Mayor’s and the Mayor alone. The appointment will not be voted on by the city council, and the replacement candidate will not be elected like other council members. Ezard says that, while there is no specific requirement of him to fill those positions, and that, if he chose to, he could leave Patterson and Richardson’s seats empty until the next term, he has decided not to go that route and will in fact appoint at least one new aldermen.

Richardson has served as aldermen for Ward 3 since his election in 2015, and his current term is set to expire in 2019. Patterson was re-elected to her position representing Ward 3 in 2017 and is currently serving a term that’s set to expire in 2021.